TSMC is fast advancing its IC packaging technology in line with its efforts to extend the relevance of Moore's Law. The foundry's 6th-generation CoWoS technology may enter volume production in 2023. Tight foundry supply has been driving IC vendors to aggressively build up their inventory levels. But concerns have emerged that they may have to undergo inventory correction in first-half 2021. Intel has decided to sell its NAND flash business to SK Hynix, as it faces growing threats to its core business of processors.
TSMC may move 6th-gen CoWoS to production in 2023: TSMC continues to advance in CoWoS-S packaging adopting silicon interposer, with the prospect of entering volume production in 2023 for the sixth-generation of the technology that can integrate HPCs and 12 cubes of HBM (high-bandwidth memory), according to industry sources.
Chipmakers may come under inventory pressure in 1H21: Fabless chipmakers, component suppliers and IC distributors have been aggressively scaling up their inventory levels, raising concerns of the semiconductor market having to undergo an inventory correction during the first half of 2021.
Intel faces increasing rivalry from AMD, Nvidia, Apple in core sectors: Intel has agreed to sell its NAND flash and storage business to SK Hynix, but the chipmaker is also facing increasingly intense competition from AMD, Nvidia and even Apple in its core business of processors for PCs, servers, and AI devices.
